IF LOOKS COULD KILL ’¦
The strength of a person’s spirit would then be measured by how much ‘truth’ he could tolerate, or more precisely, to what extent he needs to have it diluted, disguised, sweetened, muted, falsified.
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Best friends (and sometimes lovers) Nathan and Richard decide, because of their extreme intelligence and better-than-everyone-else attitude, that they should commit a murder together. Not out of vengeance or greed, but pretty much just to share in the excitement of selecting a victim, planning their deed, and killing the person together. The two intend to subdue their victim with a chisel to the head and then share in strangling him, each holding one end of a rope so the responsibility for the death would be equally shared. Sounds like a great invented plot for an intense play, right? In the life-is-stranger-than-fiction department, the tale described is real; this was known at the time of the deed as the crime of the century, when two twisted men, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, selected a local boy, 14-year-old Bobby Franks, as their victim in 1924. (Loeb bludgeoned Franks too intensely with the chisel and he died before Leopold got his chance to join in the caper. Better luck next time, Leopold.)
Although British playwright Patrick Hamilton denied it, his 1929 play Rope was clearly based on the Leopold and Loeb case; in it, two Oxford students, under the malign influence of Nietzsche and his theories of the Ãœbermensch (think intellectual superiority), kill a fellow undergrad just for sport. Alfred Hitchcock’s terrific 1948 film version of Rope was adapted by Hume Cronyn with a screenplay by Arthur Laurents (West Side Story).
In the equally fascinating A Twisted Bargain, a fictional psychological thriller at Diversionary Theatre, playwright and director Michael Mizerany zeroes in on the drama of the tale by having us observe the genesis and growth of the men’s relationship. Mizerany makes it clear that this is not historical fiction; it merely draws heavily from aspects of the famous case. His story is contemporary, making much use of cell phones in the plot.
The Loeb-like character, the wealthy Michael (Sam Zukin) is darkly charismatic and powerfully high-status. While most people would feel caught and embarrassed to have someone walk in on them in their underwear, the play opens with Michael purposely lounging and reading in his briefs, showing off his gym body, as his new college roommate arrives. It’s as if to say, “This is how I am in my space and I will change in no way to accommodate your presence.” The twist Michael doesn’t expect is that while roommate Xander (Hunter Brown) is indeed flustered by Michael’s dominant attitude, Xander is also tremendously drawn to his new roommate’s forceful nature and good looks.
The tale is a giving and ceding of power; a one-upmanship at the expense of the other, then building the other up again — this maintains some equality in their passionate rivalry. When the idea of murder comes up as an offshoot of their discussions of Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of “supermen,“ each has his own motivation. Michael is a blood-thirsty menace who finds excitement in the notion of the power of the experience and the great satisfaction of getting away with it. Xander, on the other hand, is far more interested in bonding with Michael if he goes through with it. The imbalance of their motives and reactions to one another is riveting, with both actors digging deep to create powerful monologues and interaction. It would be difficult to say which would be more interesting to analyze and which, in their own way, was more of the monster.
As one who hates spoilers, I won’t tell you if Michael and Xander complete their crime or what the outcome of their plan is, but I will give you the anti-spoiler of saying that Mizerany’s ending does not parallel what became of the two actual men, so anything is possible in Mizerany’s story. Under his gripping direction, it is worthy viewing.
The run is short and so is the play at 60 minutes. Mizerany wisely doesn’t strive for reaching that basic expectation of at least ninety minutes because the length here feels right. It’s a short night out (unless you stop for a drink at the bar downstairs), but don’t let that keep you from an hour you’ll be thinking about for quite some time.
photos of Sam Zukin (black hair) and Hunter Brown (glasses) by Travis Land
A Twisted Bargain
Compulsion Dance & Theater
Diversionary Black Box Theater 4545 Park Blvd in San Diego
Fri-Sun at 7 (except Sun Aug 26, which is at 1pm)
ends on August 26, 2024
guest production; please do not call Diversionary or use their site for tickets
for tickets ($23), visit Ticket Leap